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Plant Pest Diagnostics Center

Price List for Submitting Service Samples

The basis for this fee schedule was established by regulation 3 CCR § 4603, Schedule of Charges, as amended, effective October 1, 2016. PPDC will begin charging as per the amended schedule of charges starting on November 14, 2016.

Service Samples are non-regulatory samples submitted for identification or diagnosis to the PPDC. These include, but are not limited to, samples submitted for: phytosanitary certification purposes, genetic testing for honeybee queen certification, miscellaneous samples submitted by pest control advisors and operators, seed quality assessment and seed health testing.

With the exception of the Seed Science Laboratory, all Service Samples must be submitted with a correctly filled Pest and Damage Record (PDR) form; all Service Sample submissions to the Seed Science Laboratory must be submitted with the Seed Lab Service Sample Request form (see below), noting that seed samples for phytosanitary certification must ALSO be accompanied by a PDR. For all laboratories, the most appropriate methods, procedures, or tests will be used to make the appropriate identifications or diagnoses. Please pay close attention to the Sample Preparation and Submission Protocols below to be sure your Service Samples are handled correctly.

The Billing Address MUST be indicated on the paperwork accompanying the sample. All submissions (except those for those using only the Seed Lab Service Sample Request form) should include the standard Pest and Damage Record (PDR) form, and on that form, the Billing Address should be indicated in the fields for “Quarantine shipper/broker”. Also note, for Service Samples, you must indicate Activity Code 99 (Service Sample) on the PDR form.

NOTE, a sample or group of samples submitted at one time will have an Administrative Fee applied for data entry, generating and tracking invoices, and creating laboratory analysis reports. This Administrative Fee is set at $17.50 per quarter hour. This Administrative Fee is based on the sample, not on the number of tests or procedures that must be applied to that sample. For example, a plant submitted for testing of 12 different plant diseases will only be charged the Administrative Fee once, not 12 times. For submissions of more than 40 samples (e.g., some HLB program submissions), the Administrative Fee will be charged in quarter-hour increments for each group of 40 samples submitted at the same time.

Price Lists By Laboratory

• Botany
• Entomology
• Nematology
• Plant Pathology
• Plant Pathology - Seed Health
• Seed Science

Sample Preparation and Submission

• Botany
  • Sample Preparation and Submission Protocols
  • Pest and Damage Record Form
• Entomology
  • Sample Preparation and Submission Protocols
  • Plant Pest Diagnostics Advisory 01-2015 (PDR Cloning)
  • PDR Cloning User Manual
  • Plant Pest Diagnostics Advisory 01-2021 (Sample Submission Reminder)
  • Pest and Damage Record Form
• Nematology
  • Sample Preparation and Submission Protocols
  • Minimum times to process various nematode sample types
  • Pest and Damage Record Form
• Plant Pathology
  • Sample Preparation and Submission Protocols - General
  • Seasonal sample timing for pathogenicity testing [coming soon]
  • Sample Preparation and Submission Protocols - Seed Health
  • Pest and Damage Record Form
• Seed Science
  • Sample Preparation and Submission Protocols - Seed Identification
  • Sample Preparation and Submission Protocols - Seed Quality Assessment
  • Seed Lab Service Sample Request form
  • Pest and Damage Record Form

Questions can be directed to:

• Umesh Kodira (Branch Chief; umesh.kodira@cdfa.ca.gov)
• Steve Gaimari (Entomology, Nematology; stephen.gaimari@cdfa.ca.gov)
• Cheryl Blomquist (Plant Pathology, Botany, Seed Science; cheryl.blomquist@cdfa.ca.gov)